Frac’ing

To make intelligent decisions about the future of energy, we need to think big-picture—to look carefully at the benefits and costs to human life of every course of action. Unfortunately, in today’s energy debate we are taught, with politically incorrect forms of energy such as fossil fuels, to only look at the negative picture—often highly exaggerated or taken out of …

In December of 2014, New York State (NYS) Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), following a presentation made by the state’s health commissioner Howard Zucker, who is quoted by the Syracuse News as stating “We don’t have the evidence to prove or disprove the health effects, but the cumulative concerns of what I’ve read gives …

Petrochemical products–materials derived from the processing of petroleum oils and gases–are so abundant in modern life that they often go unnoticed. This may explain embarrassing situations such as when protesters, clothed in materials and fibers derived from petroleum, claim that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is unnecessary and should be banned—a situation that once prompted Alex Epstein to point out “your clothes …

As he said in a recent newsletter update, Alex has been “writing up a storm” since the weeks prior to the release of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels. You’ve probably read several of the articles already as we’ve shared them around piece-by-piece. But you’ve also probably missed at least some, so much like with his People’s Climate March Counter-Protest, I put together an overview of this …

We told you about the stellar reviews of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels once already, but the buzz is loud, and growing. There were too many to fit into one post, and the reviews kept flooding in. Sources from The Wall Street Journal to actor Mark Pellegrino have since joined the discussion. So here is some of the more recent praise for Alex …

The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels has been available for two weeks, and the buzz is loud. Whether conservative, libertarian, Objectivist, or an energy industry professional, advocates of free markets who read it agree this is a “pathbreaking new book” that serves as an essential tool for defending not just the fossil fuel industry, but industrial civilization and capitalism itself from their …

“Colder weather drives forecast of 2014 energy-related CO2 emissions 1.1% above 2013 level” reads the Federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) headline. The EIA explains that “total energy use and CO2 emission for the first six months of 2014” increased when “compared with the same period the year before,” as Americans increased heat and power usage to confront weather which was …

Weekend before last, hundreds of thousands swarmed the streets of New York for the “People’s Climate March”, a demonstration to demand the nations participating in that weekend’s UN Climate Summit dramatically cut their fossil fuel use. No advocacy group, consumer group, or industry group appeared willing to stand against it, despite the fact that the incredible standard of living we enjoy in the western world is made possible …

The men and women of the American oil industry are facilitating the greatest increase in the availability of life supporting fuel seen in decades. Their prodigious creation of oil—through advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technologies—has stabilized world crude prices, reducing the need for U.S. oil imports and increasing the availability of liquid fuels which have offset the damage …

Promoters of bans on oil and gas development through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) often depict their opponent as a “fracking company” from the “dirty energy industry.” Demonizing men and women of the oil and gas industry who produce the fuel powering life throughout the state is bad enough, however, there is another group of victims who are not even mentioned: Colorado …